DIGI gets 5G licences

Telecoms company Nowo asked regulator Anacom for authorisation to transfer to communications services operator DIGI part of the 5G licenses acquired at auction. However, licenses in the 3.6 GHz band – one of the most important for the fifth generation – were left out, thereby DIGI has avoided being subject to new network development obligations.

Anacom’s portal has published the approval for the transfer to DIGI of the rights in the 1,800 MHz and 2.6 GHz bands. The final decision still depends on a prior hearing of Nowo and Digi, and a public consultation is still underway until December 12.

At stake are 10 MHz in the 2.6 GHz band and 20 MHz in the 1,800 MHz band that Nowo is preparing to transfer to DIGI. In August the latter offered €150 million to buy the company formerly called Cabovisão, a deal that has since been signed after having been approved by the Competition Authority.

With this transfer, DIGI will hold, for commercial exploitation, 10 MHz in the 900 MHz band, 30 MHz in the 1,800 MHz band, 45 MHz in the 2.6 GHz band and 40 MHz in the important 3.6 GHz band.

Left out are the 40 MHz that Nowo holds in the 3.6 GHz band and that could allow the new operator DIGI to further improve its mobile network. However, if it did so, DIGI would hold licenses over 80 MHz in the 3.6 GHz band, so it would automatically be subject to much tighter network development obligations.

The 5G auction regulation is clear on this aspect. “Holders who now hold 50 MHz [in the 3.6 GHz band] are required to install, throughout the country, 917 own macro base stations or 9,170 own outdoor small cell base stations,” the document indicates. Currently, with 40 MHz, DIGI is not covered by this obligation.

However, the regulation goes even further: “Holders who hold between 60 and 100 MHz are required to install, throughout the country, 183 more own macro base stations or 1,830 more outdoor small cell base stations, for each 10 MHz above 50 MHz that they have acquired.”

DIGI is an experienced operator of electronic communications services in Europe, with almost 30 years of history in the sector, operating in Romania, Spain, Italy, Belgium and now Portugal. Its mission is to provide high-quality telecommunications services at affordable prices, always with a focus on technological innovation and customer satisfaction. It offers a wide range of services, including fibre optic internet with high and symmetrical speeds, as well as the latest 5G technology.

Nowo (pronounced Novo) is a Portuguese telecommunications company, which began operating in 1993, then under the name of Cabovisão.

In September 2024, Anacom gave the green light to the purchase of Nowo by DIGI Portugal for €150 million. The Competition Authority informed on 24 October of the same year that it was not opposed to the deal, and the sole control of Cabonitel S.A (Nowo) by Digi Portugal LDA was decided the next day.